Shane Long admits it will be a slightly strange experience when he comes up against his former club, Hull, tomorrow.

Saints will take on the Tigers this weekend for the first time since the forward completed his £12m summer move from the KC Stadium.

Long, who opened his Saints goalscoring account in Wednesday’s 3-2 Capital One Cup win at Stoke, is looking forward to the occasion, but concedes it will be an unusual one for him.

“It’s a bit strange,” he said.

“I’ve nothing but respect for Hull and the chance they gave me up there, and the lads there are great lads.

“You can see how they started this season – their last two results, Arsenal and Liverpool away, to come away with a draw in both games is very respectable, and they’ll be glad to get home again and look at this as one of the three games where they’d hope to win.

“It’s a tough place to go. The lads will dig in and cause us a lot of problems, but we’re confident that if we put in a performance that we’re capable of then we can come away with a win.”

Long added: “The fans were brilliant there to me and Steve Bruce was always good to me, and all the backroom staff.

“It will be nice to go back and see familiar faces again, but my eyes will be focused on the job and us getting three points.”

Long certainly has no regrets about having made the move south.

“I love it, and I’ve really settled in,” he said. “My middle one’s started primary school. Me and my wife, and an eight-month-old – things are fairly hectic at home, so it’s nice to get going and get settled.

“I’m close to family. There’s flights to Dublin three times a day for my family to get over, so it’s little things that make it more comfortable for you.

“Obviously, doing so well in the Prem, and having the squad of lads that we have, makes it a hell of a lot easier.”

While the size of the fee that Saints paid for Long caused a bit of surprise in some quarters, the 27-year-old said it has never played on his mind.

“No, I didn’t really think about it,” he said. “Southampton obviously really wanted to get me, and to make that offer – they made a few offers and Hull rejected them and then when that came in they said they were willing to let me go down and see what they have to say.

“When I came down and saw the set-up and met the manager, and he spoke to me about what he wanted to do, it was an easy decision for me.”

Long also insists he is enjoying learning a new position at Saints.

“When I signed here, the gaffer said that he bought me to play out wide more often than not,” he said.

“It was a new position for me and it was one that took me a while to get used to. But I’m enjoying it, especially when the team is playing well and you seem to get that freedom to go one-on-one at defenders, which I love.”